Chapter 304 : Picking Up The Wrong Woman
After the guards finished putting the bandits in the carriage cage, Celine, Ester, Nicola, Tio and I headed to the town of Torfe with them.
Unlike Garrett’s carriage, the carriage we were riding was an open carriage, so we could feel the cold air of winter with our skins.
To warm ourselves up a bit, the five of us sat in a row, lining up side by side and pressing our shoulders against each other.
Meanwhile, the guards who were riding the same carriage as us were sitting across from us.
They were looking at usー No. To be exact, they were looking at the girls. None of them was even glancing at me.
Well, they were all young men, so I kinda understand their feelings.
The girls here are attractive after all.
Celine has an adult voluptuous body that everyone can tell even though she’s wearing a thick jacket, Tio looks like a gentle “onee-san” and has the impression of being a kind and thoughtful woman, Ester is a cool beauty but at the same time, she is a cheerful young girl, and Nicolaー
Hold on… Nicola is still underage. No one is looking at her with lustful eyes, right? Right!?
I’m the only male among these pretty girls. Luckily, I’m a nine-year-old boy, so no one is glaring at me with jealous sharp eyes.
The two men in the middle whispered to each other. After that, one of them called out to Celine.
「H, Hi there… By the way, have you decided where to eat tonight? The two of us will be off duty once we put those bandits in jail, so… Would you like to have dinner with us?」(guard A)
His face was bright red probably because he wasn’t used to inviting a girl. Perhaps he was told by the macho guard next to him to pick Celine up.
The other guards started whispering to each other, but I could still hear them.
「Dammit! He stole a march on us!」
「I thought he was a coward.」
「Gaah! I should have talked to her sooner!」(guards)
They seemed to plan to invite Celine too, but the man beat them to it.
However, as a matter of course, Celine declined it.
「I’m sorry. I don’t want to. You should invite someone else.」(Celine)
「Ughh…!」(guard A)
Celine’s firm answer left the man speechless.
At the same moment, the other guards sighed in relief for some reason.
「Come on, don’t say that. It’s just dinner. We know some popular restaurants in Torfe, and of course, we’ll pay for the food. You won’t regret it!」(guard B)
Seeing his friend’s gloomy face after Celine declined his invitation, the macho guard next to him joined in and persuaded Celine.
However, Celine silently turned her face away as if she was telling him that she wouldn’t change her mind no matter what.
「Oh, come on! Say something!」(guard B)
The macho guard seemed to be offended. He shouted at Celine. Perhaps it was because Celine hurt his pride as a senior in front of his junior.
However, Celine didn’t answer and just kept looking away.
「Oi, are you listening!?」(guard B)
「………..」(Celine)
「Tsk!」(guard B)
After the macho guard clicked his tongue, everyone fell silent. The atmosphere became heavy and awkward.
I looked around and saw Tio raise her eyebrows. She seemed to remember when she saw Celine harshly decline some men who tried to pick her up in the dining hall in her parents’ inn.
On the other hand, Nicola, who was sitting between Celine and Tio, put her hand on her mouth and giggled.
『Khu khu khu! No one touches my Celine!』(Nicola)
Meanwhile, Ester, who had a timid personality, could only keep silent and look down on the floor awkwardly.
As for me, I felt like I wanted to let out a long, big sigh. It was tough to stay in this heavy atmosphere…
Fortunately, Tio talked with a bright tone all of a sudden, blowing away the surrounding heavy air.
「Say, gentlemen, if you haven’t decided where you’re going to eat dinner tonight, then I suggest you go to a restaurant called Freesia!」(Tio)
「…Hm? Freesia? If I remember correctly, I once went there with Macho senpai… Do you work there?」(guard A)
The sad young guard who was rejected by Celine raised his head and looked at Tio. Tio then smiled at him and nodded.
「Un. To be exact, I’m going to work there for a while. If you like, you can come over for dinner. I will be there tonight. Well, I might not show my face too often since I’m still an apprentice.」(Tio)
「Really!? I will definitely go there tonight! Macho senpai, let’s go together!」(guard A)
「Of course! We’re going to eat at Freesia tonight!」(guard B)
The macho guy grabbed the young guard’s shoulder and raised a thumbs up.
I’m curious… Is Macho really his name or is he called Macho because he’s a macho dude…?
「Fufu. Thank you! The beer in Freesia is the best in town. I hope you will order a lot!」(Tio)
「Hahaha! I think we’ll have as many beers as we can drink if you’re the one who will serve us. Right?」(guard B)
「That’s right! I will drink as many as I can if you serve the beer!」(guard A)
「That’s wonderful! I’ll tell the manager to reserve a table for the both of you. I will tell him that you’re important customers who will order tons of beer!」(Tio)
「Hahaha! Please go easy on us!」(guard B)
「Hey, can I reserve a table too?」(guard C)
「Me too!」(guard D)
「I’d like to eat there too!」(guard E)
「Okay, okay! I’ll be waiting for you guys~!」(Tio)
The other guards decided to have dinner at Freesia too after seeing how friendly Tio was toward the two guards.
Thanks to her, the heavy atmosphere in this carriage had completely gone.
That’s a waitress for you. She knows how to handle people.
Ruki. He told me to look after Tio before we left the inn, but, dude, your older sister is stronger than you thought.
Seeing everyone smiling, Celine looked somewhat apologetic. Perhaps she felt guilty for spoiling the atmosphere.
She brought her face closer to Tio’s and whispered to her.
「Thank you.」(Celine)
「Don’t worry about it!」(Tio)
ーーーーー
We arrived at the town of Torfe before sunset.
There are a lot of people in this town, and it has cobblestone roads unlike Schultria and other villages I have visited on this long journey. As expected from a big town. I think it’s bigger than Fatia Town.
Ester was looking around with her eyes wide open.
Because I’ve been practicing to feel the flow of mana in my surroundings, I can tell that her pointy elven ears are twitching out of excitement even though she is hiding them with a magic tool.
「Alright. I’m gonna drop you guys here.」(coachman)
After traveling down the main street for a while, our carriage stopped in an area with fewer people.
After the five of us got off the carriage, the captain who was sitting on the driver’s seat next to the coachman turned his face toward Celine.
「Miss Celine, as you heard from the adventurer guild yesterday, you won’t get any bounty reward since those bandits are not in the guild’s wanted list, but the guild will still give you reward money. I will prepare the documents at the headquarters and send them to the guild today so that you can receive your reward money at the adventurer guild tomorrow.」(captain)
「Got it. Thank you.」(Celine)
After telling Celine that, the captain turned his gaze toward his squad members who were sitting on the passenger seat behind him.
「You guys are going to have dinner at Freesia, right? That’s fine, but don’t drink too much. I don’t want any of you to be late for practice tomorrow morning. If you’re late… Well, you know the consequences.」(captain)
「「Y, Yes, Sir!」」(guards)
The guards firmly replied to their captain, but they looked a bit frightened for some reason.
I wonder what kind of punishment they would get if they were late.
However, right after the captain warned them, Tio smiled and waved her hand at them as if saying, “I’ll be waiting for your huge order~”
The guards then could only smile back at Tio awkwardly.
Ruki… Now I understand why you said your older sister was scary…
After dropping us off, the guards continued heading to their headquarters to turn the bandits in.
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I really enjoy this novel it’s a shame that the pacing gets really slow sometimes, but still a good read. Thanks for the translation